Recent awareness of human impact on environmental pollution has propelled the need to develop environmentally friendly alternatives to gasoline powered vehicles such as electric vehicles. For example, the continued economic development of India, China, and Brazil will lead to a staggering increase in the number of vehicles on the world's roads. If present trends continue, there will be an estimated 2.5 billion vehicles on the road by 2050, which is an increase from the nearly 600 million present in 2010. With an unpredictable oil supply and increased environmental changes associated with fossil fuel burning, electrification of short-haul transportation is an attractive alternative (e.g., electrically powered vehicles).
With more electric vehicles on the roads, an infrastructure will need to be built to charge these electric vehicles. For example, it is projected that about 4.7 million charging stations, will be installed in various locations worldwide between 2010 and 2015. With an estimated cost of $2,500 per charging station and the potential for damage due to driver error, these Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS) need to be safeguarded and protected from damage, e.g., damage caused by a collision with a parking vehicle.